Alvarez: Chavez not his dad
LAS VEGAS — As Canelo Alvarez awaits what he says will be the biggest fight of his career tomorrow night against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., one wonders if, given his druthers, he would rather have faced the father in his prime than the son in his decline.
Julio Cesar Chavez is nearly universally regarded as the greatest boxer Mexico has produced, a title his son never will approach. His only real opposition would be the great bantamweight and featherweight champion Ruben Olivares, whose destructive power and aggressive style merged perfectly with the preferences of Mexican fight fans. A few might argue wistfully for the great featherweight champion Salvador Sanchez, who died in a car accident at 23 and never reached his full potential.
Other than Olivares, Chavez is without peer among Mexican fans, a place he earned with honor and grit. His son has shown some of the latter, especially when he nearly won the middleweight title from Sergio Martinez with a furious final-round rally after suffering a comprehensive beating, but not enough of the former.
Canelo understands this and seldom has missed an opportunity to point out the younger Chavez’ problems making weight, quitting on his stool against Andrzej Fonfara and being suspended for marijuana in 2012. He gives him his due as a former middleweight champion with a powerful punch, good chin and distinct size advantage but concedes him nothing else, including respect.
Using the power he holds in the marketplace, Alvarez made it a condition of battle that they fight at a catch weight of 1641⁄ pounds, forcing the 2 often weight-challenged Chavez to come down 61⁄ 2 from what he weighed in four of his past five bouts.
Although the younger Chavez lacks the resume of his father, he does possess curb appeal to a portion of Mexican fans, which is why the fight at T-Mobile Arena will break the alltime indoor attendance record for a boxing match in Las Vegas, and is expected to do well more than a million buys on HBO pay-perview at $59.95 a pop. Yet if he had the choice, would Alvarez rather face the younger Chavez, for whom he has built up a considerable dislike during the past decade as the two jockeyed to become the most popular fighter in Mexico today, or the omnipresent legend who is his father?
“You are asking about two different generations,’’ Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) said. “It would be a great honor to have a matchup like that, to fight Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Just imagine how big that would be. I wish I could fight during those times.’’
Ten years ago, when Alvarez was just embarking on a professional career that began at the age of 15, he met the elder Chavez at a fight in Mexico. The idol of every young Mexican boxer (and most Latino ones throughout the world), Chavez had a message for him, never thinking one day his own son might stand in front of Alvarez inside a boxing ring.
“I saw him when I was walking out of the ring and I got close to him,’’ Alvarez recalled with apparent reverence. “I met him at ringside. He told me that I was on the right track and to keep working hard.’’
Asked if he got Chavez’ autograph that day, Alvarez smiled before saying, “No.’’
Now he has his son’s autograph on a contract, so the two will square off not for a recognized title but rather for the singular — and perhaps more important — title of most popular fighter in Mexico. With that comes fierce pride and fractious emotions which have been clear during the lead-up to this moment.
“All 50 of my opponents I’ve faced I’ve wanted to rip their head off,’’ Alvarez said. “I wanted to beat them. I wanted to knock them out. This is a little extra. There’s a little bit more motivation because of the rivalry.
“Titles are very important to me, but this is above that. This goes above any title. It’s for honor, for pride. As the great Bernard Hopkins once said, ‘Once a quitter, always a quitter.’ So anything is possible.’’
That less-than-veiled shot at Chavez quitting in his corner against Fonfara was delivered with the same kind of quick-strike force for which Alvarez is known. He is not the possessor of one-punch knockout power, rather withering aggression and well-placed body and head shots.
Alvarez grinds you down like a wood chopper, methodically making you wince and wobble until you are cut to pieces. This is a process he seems particularly glad to be engaging in with young Chavez and, frankly, would find far more challenging were he facing the legend rather than his offspring.
“This rivalry goes back about 10 years to our time in Guadalajara,’’ Alvarez explained. “They had the opportunity to make this fight years ago. They had the power to make it back then, but they didn’t want to. He has talked bad about me for so many years. May 6, no more talking. I want to shut him up.
“My fans know I started from nothing, from the bottom up. From zero. I’ve worked my way up with a lot of sweat and sacrifices. He has his fans as well, but I think a lot of his fans are more his father’s fans.
“(Junior) himself has not had a real disciplined career. He is not a role model for the young children and young fighters. I just hope that he is training extra hard as he says and is extra motivated. That makes me happy because it means we’re going to give the fans a beautiful fight.
“There’s a very high percentage (chance) this fight could end by knockout because of our styles,” Alvarez added. “I’ve got to go in there and do my job, and that’s to hurt your opponent and beat your opponent more than he can beat you.
“Obviously a knockout is spectacular for the fighter and for the fans. We’ll see. I’m just waiting, building up, because come May 6, I’m going to let it all out.’’
When he does, he intends to hurt the son so badly the father feels it, too.